Pathways To Bliss
by sotto.voce88
Summary: The road to ashes begins with flames. Introspectiveish, Team 7


A/N: So here I am again, my second attempt now. I tried to write a somewhat contemplative side to Naruto and I wanted it to be 'profound', except with all the excitement of graduation and prizes and holidays and whatnot, I'm not sure if it worked - it seems more like pointless rambling now. The whole story (short though it may be) turned out nothing like I had anticipated, so I'm not sure what to make of it. Anyway, hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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_**Pathways To Bliss**_

_The road to ashes begins with flames._

It was autumn in Konoha. The world was burning gold and red in the last flicker of daylight, the sunset hanging low over the horizon like the embers of a once blazing flame. A single figure lay in the middle of an old training ground, an old, worn frame in his hands encasing a photo gazed upon so many times the finest details were etched like burning scars in his mind.

As a soft wind whispered through the grass rustling leaves loose from nearby peach blossoms, Naruto sat up blinking his eyes against the pink glow of the sky. He looked out across the pasture and as he closed his eyes, a vivid image burned suddenly against his eyelids; a memory of three genin, barely out of childhood, training together on the field and collapsing, laughing, in the grass, a boy with golden hair and a golden smile, a girl still harbouring schoolgirl crushes and schoolgirl dreams, a boy with a gaze of terrible, solemn sadness and a heavy pain in his chest that ate at his heart, except in moments like these when nothing mattered but _them_.

"_Hey, hey! Let's never grow up."_

"_Then how will you become Hokage, Dead Last?"_

"_I don't have to be grown up for that, I can protect all of you like I am now!"_

_The girl scowls at him but it doesn't matter, because they're young, they're alive, and they have their entire lives to live together._

There was something so sad about growing up. A deep ache in his chest of longing for the carefree days of childhood, when everything was so big, when life's soundtrack was a thousand laughs between best friends and the world smelt like new hitai-ate and ramen, lilies and dewy grass.

Maybe they didn't value enough the link that drew them together, or maybe they were too smug, with his loud laughs that said so clearly to the world, "_these are my best friends and I'm going to know them for the rest of my life_." Whatever it was, they were punished in the worst, most painful way imaginable. One of them was lost, and without him, they were nothing.

Grasping the frame in his left hand, Naruto stood in one swift motion, his feet thumping softly as he tread over dewy earth. And there they were again, those phantom children, older now, wiser. But one of them is missing. And the blond watches the girl, both of them smiling sadly, with a gaping void between them and cold emptiness gripping at their hearts, a sense of failure. Because they still haven't saved him.

"_It's ok, Naruto, it's not your fault."_

"_I'm gonna save that stupid bastard. I'm gonna save him and bring him back home. I promised and I will _never _go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja!"_

"_Even if it takes forever?"_

"_Even if it takes forever."_

He could smell the familiar scent of hot soup from the direction of the village, and of freshly harvested wheat from the nearby fields. The here. The _now_. They weren't children anymore, with unburdened shoulders and voices covered with hidden laughter. They no longer held onto the innocent beliefs of the world being inherently good, and everyone receiving what they deserve. Their hearts would still be woven together with threads of the finest silk, as fragile and beautiful as the dusty wings of moths and as strong as steely spider webs, but they would not – _could_ not – erase the past, and so their only choice was to rectify it.

They weren't three children throwing water balloons at each other by the river, they weren't three genin with nothing but strange rivalry and desperate friendship between them, they weren't just friends cherishing any time spent in each other's company, lying down in the grass with their heads together, their hair fanned out – golden blonde and pastel cerise and deep, dusky obsidian.

That was behind them, as unreachable as childhood dreams and old birthday wishes.

As the wind grew stronger, Naruto pulled his jacket on and began his walk home. And every step back was an unwilling step forward, time stealing from him a precious past, bringing him closer to the inevitable finale.

_Let's never grow up._

They already had.

_Even if it takes forever._

There was no such thing.

Night settled, a never-ending canvas of deep blue, dusted with a fine sprinkling of stars, of secret wishes and elusive dreams; a dark silence swallowing the world, pushing time forward, ever and always. They were living in days of darkness and little hope and memories burned their hearts.

But somehow, they would end it. _Together_.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are much appreciated! 


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